Think You’re Ready to Start Writing? Think Again

We know, we’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. Planning is not the sexiest part of marketing and communications, but it is probably the most important.

Whether you’re talking about an entire campaign, or just a 140-character tweet, you have to take more than a minute to think about what you want to accomplish. Otherwise, you’re throwing your time, energy and budget at communications that won’t provide desired results.

So before putting finger to keyboard (or pen to paper), make a plan. Think through your:

Objectives — aka what do you hope to achieveDefine meaningful and measurable goals so you can show results. And if at all possible, show how your objectives support the company’s overall objectives.

Audience — or, who can bring about your desired result?In addition to your obvious target audience, consider those who might influence your target audience as well as those who could help out as champions.

Key messages — what do they need to be told to motivate action?Audiences have very short attention spans (think 8 seconds!), so don’t overwhelm them with too much information. Try to stick to three to five key messages and let them know where they can go for more information.

Vehicle — what is the best way to reach your audience?Here’s where you can get a little creative. What vehicles are available to you? Which are preferred by your target audience? And which can you afford? The key is to use as many vehicles as you can so you can get the key messages out as often as possible. And that leads us to….

Timing — when is the best time to get the message across, and how often?You need to reach your target audience at least seven times before the key message starts to sink in. How do you do that? Repurpose the same information through various vehicles (e.g. postcard, intranet site, poster, brochure, employee meetings, blog, twitter, etc.)

Now you’re ready to create an integrated HR communications calendar. Consider all the upcoming initiatives and notification requirements for every area of HR including compensation, talent management and benefits. It will be a bit overwhelming at first, but it will help you to see the whole picture and prioritize your efforts. By creating a communications roadmap, you can maximize your time, energy and budget.

Who We Are
Write On Target, Inc. is a full-service HR & Employee communications company that brings together the best of both worlds…professionals with in-depth knowledge and experience in HR combined with a creative staff with impressive marketing skills. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies whose audiences vary as much by demographics and culture as they do media of choice.